LIVERPOOL'S Register Office plans to expand its list of venues which can stage marriages - and is currently negotiating to sign up Radio City's 400ft tower and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

It is thought the uniqueness of the city centre tower could make it attractive to couples looking for something different, while the airport would be the ideal venue for couples jetting off on honeymoon.

Sean Marley, managing director of Radio City, said: "We are definitely going ahead with it but it will probably only be for an exclusive few weddings during the year.

"We may do something quirky ourselves to launch it. It's a great view from the tower but there's not that much space so maybe we'll have to get people to put all their guests in Williamson Square and just wave from the top."

Weddings are also to return to one of Liverpool's most historic religious meeting places.

Central Hall on Renshaw Street, a former Methodist meeting hall, has re-applied for a l icence to stage ceremonies.

The famous city centre hall, a listed building with a stunning art deco interior, is currently undergoing an extensive refurbishment to turn it into a 2,000-seat conference centre and nightclub.

Liverpool Register Office now takes the lead in trying to identify possible sites where couples might want to tie the knot.

There are already 17 venues, apart from the Register Office and religious buildings, where weddings can take place in Liverpool.

They include hotels such as the Crowne Plaza and Adelphi, Anfield and Goodison Park, the Philharmonic Hall, the town hall and Sefton Park Palm House.

On Wirral, there are 15 approved venues including Wallasey and Birkenhead Town Hall, Hulme Hall and the Thornton Hall Hotel.

But the Register Office is now seeking to increase that.

Liverpool's superintendent registrar, Neil McIntyre, said: "These days we take a more proactive approach in seeking out wedding venues - we don't just wait for them to come to us. We try to contact venues where we believe people might like to have a ceremony. Venues can apply for a three-year licence for #1,000."

While a Register Office ceremony costs couples just #34 plus #3.50 for a marriage certificate, an "approved venue" wedding could cost couples more than #250.

Bob Burns, the Liverpool entrepreneur who owns Central Hall, believes it will be a welcome addition to marriage facilities in Liverpool.

He said: "A couple of people asked if we could do weddings so we decided to apply for the licence.

"We are just putting the finishing touches to the hall now, but it's looking terrific.

"I think it will be a real asset to the city."

If the hall is granted a licence, it will mark the return of a 90-year tradition.

Central Hall held its first wedding on April 11, 1914 and its last on March 25, 1989, wel-coming 203 over the years.

While other venues continue to expand, church weddings are continuing to suffer a decline on Merseyside as a whole.

Latest available figures show that of the 5,109 Merseyside weddings in 2001, just 45pc were in a church, compared with 58pc of 7,832 weddings in 1990.

But the Superintendent Registrar ruled out at least one non-church venue which some Merseyside couples might be tempted to try.

Mr McIntyre said: "The Mersey Ferries have been mentioned as a venue but the problem is the ceremony has to be accessible so that anyone who wants to protest can do so. If the wedding is on the ferry, someone would have to swim for it so I don't think it would pass the accessibility test."